A police officer and pollution prevention specialist Claudia Pingatore (right) see metal taken from the Caltrans highway 4 corridor project (foreground middle left) as they investigated Christenson's recycling in Pittsburg, California, on Tuesday, June 19, 2012. There were planned coordinated raids on metal recyclers this morning as part of a probe into metal theft.

Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

A police officer and pollution prevention specialist Claudia...

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Several law enforcement agencies investigating Christenson's recycling in Pittsburg, California, on Tuesday, June 19, 2012. They planned coordinated raids on metal recyclers this morning as part of a probe into metal theft.

Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

Several law enforcement agencies investigating Christenson's...

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Several law enforcement agencies including an investigator from the district attorney's office taking a picture of metal at Christenson's recycling in Pittsburg, California, on Tuesday, June 19, 2012. They planned coordinated raids on metal recyclers this morning as part of a probe into metal theft.

Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

Several law enforcement agencies including an investigator from the...

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Several law enforcement agencies including James Leonard (middle, creme shirt) from PG&E from San Francisco investigating Christenson's recycling in Pittsburg, California, on Tuesday, June 19, 2012. Leonard says PG&E wire is a common stolen item. They planned coordinated raids on metal recyclers this morning as part of a probe into metal theft.

Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

Several law enforcement agencies including James Leonard (middle,...

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Several law enforcement agencies including James Leonard from PG&E from San Francisco investigating Christenson's recycling in Pittsburg, California, on Tuesday, June 19, 2012. Leonard says PG&E wire is a common stolen item. They planned coordinated raids on metal recyclers this morning as part of a probe into metal theft.

Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

Several law enforcement agencies including James Leonard from PG&E...

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An officer takes a piece of metal stolen from the Caltran highway 4 corridor project from Christenson's recycling in Pittsburg, California, on Tuesday, June 19, 2012.

Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

An officer takes a piece of metal stolen from the Caltran highway 4...

Teams of law enforcement officers served search warrants Tuesday on seven scrap-metal recycling yards in Contra Costa County, hunting for loot from a crime wave that has plagued transit agencies, utilities and businesses around the Bay Area.

Prosecutors with the Contra Costa district attorney's office, who led the raids, are looking into whether the recycling centers have bought stolen copper, aluminum and other metal, and whether they have failed to follow state laws intended to limit such transactions.

Also taking part in the raids were local police departments, the state Division of Measurement Standards, which regulates commercial weighing, and three frequent victims of copper theft: BART, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. and Union Pacific Railroad.

"Our role was to identify any potential stolen property that might have belonged to us," said PG&E spokeswoman Tamar Sarkissian.

She said that from 2005 to 2011, the utility suffered $5.2 million in damage from 2,200 thefts, mostly of copper wire. Besides being illegal, she said, the thefts are dangerous, leading to electrocutions and power outages to hospitals, 911 call centers and traffic signals.

Aaron Hunt, a spokesman for Union Pacific, said, "Ever since the recession, this has been an ongoing challenge for us. But we've started to collaborate with other law enforcement agencies to fight this, and we've seen some progress."

Contra Costa prosecutors declined to comment on the raids or whether they turned up stolen goods, and owners of the recycling centers said they were not told of the specific grounds for the search warrants. Prosecutors seized sales records, but it was not clear whether they were seeking to build a criminal case or develop a lawsuit.

Metal theft has increased largely because of the rising value of copper, which goes for nearly $4 a pound. In the past few years, thieves have damaged grave sites and gutted foreclosed homes. They've made off with a famous church bell from San Francisco, a plaque in the Castro honoring assassinated supervisor Harvey Milk and pieces of a memorial to victims of the 1991 Oakland hills fire.

Seven centers raided

According to the search warrants served Tuesday, the targeted businesses were Christenson Recycling Center and Pittsburg Recycling Center in Pittsburg; Sims Metal Management in Richmond; Ren Metal Salvage & Recycling and Action Metal Recycling in North Richmond; Pleasant Paper Recycling in Concord; and VV Recycling in Martinez.

At Pleasant Paper Recycling, general manager Mike Jennings said his company had nothing to hide and was committed to fighting metal theft. He said it abided by a 3-year-old state law that requires sellers to show identification and be photographed with their goods - a law he said had been effective.

Dealers can also be prosecuted if they buy metal they know is used by a transit agency or utility without exercising "due diligence" to make sure the goods aren't stolen.

"The main thing anyone should have in this business is transparency," Jennings said. "We don't want anything in here that's stolen."

Jennings said workers scrutinized every piece of metal before buying it, and at times refused to pay before sending police a photograph of the material.

But he added that distinguishing between scrap copper that is legitimate or stolen can be difficult, and "some things can get past us."

Customers' view

At Christenson Recycling Center, officers from several agencies arrived just before 11 a.m. as customers lined up to sell cans, bottles, plastic containers and scrap metal.

Shaun Sorensen, 33, of Bay Point was in line with his two sons and a cart of metal pieces he figured would fetch about $10 - a radiator from an old truck, aluminum mop handles and a small motor from a treadmill. He said he typically sold scrap metal once a week, after buying items online or finding them discarded.

Sorensen said he had never seen anyone selling material at the recycling center that appeared to be obviously stolen.

However, he also said he had once bought two industrial-sized building fans online and then sold the metal at the center with "no questions asked."

Another customer, Eric, a 28-year-old Antioch construction worker who declined to give his last name, had about $100 worth of copper wire and tin conduit he said he had picked up legally at work sites.

"The electricians just leave it on the ground or throw it away," he said. "That's throwing money away. These days, everything counts. I have two kids."

He was one of several customers to say he supported a crackdown on metal theft.